Media Release – Bill Cosby and Fr. Roy Alan Drake, Sj

Road to Recovery
May 14, 2015

http://www.road-to-recovery.org/

Helen Gumpel, retired successful fashion model and actress, who thwarted a sexual attack in Bill Cosby’s dressing room on the set of “The Cosby Show,” and currently an advocate for women who were sexually abused by Bill Cosby, will join her husband, Hollywood screenwriter Neal E. Gumpel, at Fordham University, Bronx, New York, to draw attention to the sexual abuse of her husband when he was a minor child.

Neal E. Gumpel is a clergy sexual abuse victim of Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, a deceased Jesuit priest and professor at Fordham University, Bronx, NY, and Maine Maritime Academy, Castine, Maine, where Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, sexually abused Neal E. Gumpel when he was a minor child.

Fordham University and the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), who staff Fordham University and were responsible for Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ for decades until his death, refuse to acknowledge and bear responsibility for the allegation of sexual abuse against Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ in Maine and give any assistance to Neal E. Gumpel, settle and validate his claim, and help him heal.

What

A press conference and leafleting alerting the media and general public that the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and Fordham University refuse to help a clergy sexual abuse victim of one of its priests, Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ heal by validating his claim of sexual abuse as a minor child.

When

Friday, May 15, 2015 from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm

Saturday, May 16, 2015 8:00 am until 11:00 am (Graduation at 10:00 am)

Where

On the public sidewalks outside the motor vehicle entrance to Fordham University, Bronx, New York, across from the New York Botanical Gardens in Southern Boulevard.

Who

Hollywood screenwriter Neal E. Gumpel, a resident of Connecticut who has alleged that he was sexually abused as a minor teenager by Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ; Helen Gumpel, wife of Neal E. Gumpel, former successful fashion model and actress who appeared in an episode of “The Cosby Show” and thwarted a sexual assault by Bill Cosby in his dressing room; and members of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families.

Why

Neal E. Gumpel, whose mother (Jane Gumpel) and father (Dr. Roy Gumpel) are both graduates of Fordham University, was an unsuspecting high school minor teenager when his brother invited him to spend a weekend at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine. Rev. Roy Alan Drake, SJ was a Jesuit priest from Fordham University who was working at the time at Maine Maritime Academy and invited Neal E. Gumpel to his residence on or near the campus, served him alcohol, and sexually abused him. Demonstrators will call on Fordham University and the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus to do the right thing and help Neal E. Gumpel heal.

Contacts

Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D. – Fordham University Ph.D. ’88 – 862-368-2800

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250